29 May 2013

Tribe ignores Mighty River shares but will consider Meridian

9:06 am on 29 May 2013

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu says the tribe has not bought any shares in Mighty River Power but it isn't ruling out the possibility of taking a stake in another state-owned enterprise.

Last year, the tribe's leader, Sir Mark Solomon, said a consortium of tribes would be interested in buying up to 20% in state-owned power companies being partially privatised.

Sir Mark says Ngai Tahu might look at Meridian Energy, which is the next asset to be floated.

But he says any decision on whether to invest will be made by one of the tribe's commercial arms, Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation.

Sir Mark says if directors were to buy shares, it would probably be in Meridian Energy which has hydro generating plants within the iwi's rohe (territory).